Turbine-driven locomotive



H. REID Er 'AL TURBINE DRIVEN LocoMo'TIvE Filed May 5; 1925 4 sheds-sheet 2 Feb. 16 1926. 1,572,958

H. REID ET AL TURBINE DRIVEN LOCOMOTIVE Filed May 5 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 1,572,958 H. REID ET Al.

TURBINE DRvE-N LoooMoTIvE Feb; 16 ,"1926.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed may 5 1925 patented Feb. 16, 1926. y

UNITED STATES HUGH REID AND JAMES MAcLEOD, OF GLASGOW-, SCOTLAND.

I TURBINE-DRIVEN LOCOMOTIVE.

Application led May 5, 1925. Serial No. 28,172.

To all 'Lo/0m it may concern.'

Be it known that we, HUGH Rein, engineer, and JAMES MAoLEoD, engineer, both subjects of the King of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and residing at Springburn, Glasgow, Scotland, and Mount Florida, Glasgow, Scotland, respectively, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in rlurbine-Driven Locomotives, for which We iiled an application for patent in Great Britain on April 12, 1924, and of which the following'is a specification.

This invention relates to a turbinedriven locomotive of any given wheeling arrangement having one or more driving axles in which transmission from the turbine or turbines to the wheels of the locomotive is effected exclusively by means of rotary gears and a flexible driving connection orl connections.

More particularly, the invention comprises an improved transmission train, which, as hereinafter described, includes at least one Vdriven gear on a hollow shaft surrounding the relative wheel axle, and a flexible driving connection so contrived as t0 permit endwise movement 'of the wheel axle relatively to the hollow shaft and gear thereon without displacement of the gears, the axle be; Ying also free to participate in angular movement of the main or bogie frames.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 2 a. plan, and Fig. 3 a transverse section of the driving bogie of a turbine-driven'locomotive with transmission train according to the invention. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of reversing gears, Figs. 5 and 6 are a longitudinal section and al lan, respectivel of a modication. Fig. i) is a sectional e evation on a somewhat larger scale of theliexible driving connection shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 8

is a section on the line A--A of Fig. 7.-

F ig. 9 is a section drawn to a still larger scale on the line B-B of Fig. 7.

The locomotive according to the example hown in Figs. 1 to 4 includes a driving oog-ie 1 pivoted at 16 to the main u per structure 14 carried on rollers 15, said riving bogie being associated with amleading or trailing. bogie 17 pivoted to the main frame at 18. Associated with the driving bogie 1 is a gear casing 2 located longitudinally of the upper structure 14 within guides- 3. 'Io the casing 2 is lixed the casing 4 of aturbineV and said gear casing contains multiple reduction rotary geary Amembers 5, (3, 7, 8, namely the gears 5 and 6 between the rotor. shaft 4 of the turbine and the -counter 'shaft 9, and the gears 7 and 8 be- 60 tween the shaft 9 anda hollow shaft 10 surrounding each of the driving axlesll, there being between each hollow shaft A10 and an associated axle 1l a flexible driving connection, hereinafter more fully described.

Each gear 8 with an associated gear 12 may be fixed to a common sleeve slidablc upon the relative hollow shaft 10 so as to bring either gear 8 or` 12 into engagement with the gear7 depending on the desired direc- 70 tion of travel of the locomotive (see Fig. 4). v The flexible driving connection shown clearly in Figs. 7 to 9 includes a 'set of three driving elements 21. 22, 23 grouped about the axis of the hollow shaft l0 and a set of 75 Y three driven elements 24, 25, 26 alternating with the driving elements, said driving ele ments -beingfixed to the disc 27 and being formed with projectionsv 1,.2, 3 between which and the disc 27 is located the disc 80 28 to which are fixed the driven elements 24, 25, 26 and which is thus axially' immovable rrelatively to the disc 27. Interposed between each driving element and each adjacent) driven element are flexible interponents comprising telescopically arranged tubular members 29, 30 surrounded by helical springs 31 under compression,l the tubular members 29, 30 each having a partspherical head seated in the corresponding driving and driven element.

In the form illustrated the driving and driven elements .are arranged at thel cornersof a hexagon, the sides of which are occupied bv themernbers 29, 30, 31, the geometrical centre of the h'exagon lying on the axis of rotation.

The disc 28 is operatively connected with the axle 11 by pins 33 each carrying a roller 35 entering a longitudinal groove 36 on the 100 said axle. These pins 33 are carried by the disk 28, forming part of the flexible connection between the axle 11 and the hollow shaft 10, and the grooves 36, entered by said pins," permit an endwise movement .of said axle relative to the hollow shaft l0;

and as the disk 28 loosely encircles the axle 11, as shown in Figs. and 9, angular movements of said axle within the hollow shaft are also permitted.

6 flexible driving connections are interposed v In the modification shown in Figs. 5 and between thehollow shaft and the driving wheels 13 coaxial therewith.

- What we claim' is 1. In a turbine-driven locomotive having wheeled axles, a hollow shaft surrounding atleast one axle, a' driving rotor, anda transmission comprising exclusively rotary gears and a liexible driving connection between said rotor and the wheels on said axle, said transmission including selectively engageal'ile gears carried by said hollow shaft, said iexible connection being adapted to e'ect rotation in-eitherdirection and permitting endwise movement of said axle relatively to said hollow shaft, and also angular' movement of said axle.

9,.lu a turbine driven locomotive, the combination with a rotor, of hollow shafts having driving gear connections with said rotor, disks fixed to said hollow shafts, driving elements mounted on said disks, wheeled axles passing loosely through said hollow shafts and provided with longitudinal grooves, disks loosely mounted on said axles and carrying driven elements, flexible connect-ions between said driving and .driven elements, and pins carried?` by said last named disks and entering said grooves in said axles; whereby endwise and angular movements of said axles, relative to said hollow shafts, are permitted.

3. In a turbine driven locomotive, the combination with a rotor, of hollow shafts having driving gear connections with said rotor, disks fixed to said hollow shafts, driving elements mounted on said disks, wheeled axles passing loosely through said hollow shafts arid provided with longitudinal grooves, disks loosely mounted on said axles and carrying driven elements, flexible connections between said driving and driven elements, and pins carried by said lastnamed disks and entering said grooves in said axles; whereby endwise and angular movements of said axles, relative .to said hollow shafts, are permitted, said'flexible connections comprising telescoping tubular members, and springs encircling said members.

4. In a turbine driven locomotive, the combina-tion with a rotor, of hollow shafts having driving gear connections with said rotor. disks fixed to said hollow shafts, driving elements mounted on said disks, wheeled axles passing loosely through said hollow shafts and providedy with longitudinal grooves, disks loosely mounted on said axles and carrying driven elements, flexible connections between said driving and driven elements, and pins carried vby said last- .named disks ands entering said Igrooves in said axles; whereby endwise and angular movements of said axles, relative to Vsaid hollow shafts, are' permitted, said iexible connections comprising telescoping tubular members, and springs encircling said members, said tubular members having semispherical end portions and said driving and driven elements having concave seats in which said end portions fit.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

v HUGH REID.

JAMES MACLEOD. 

